Nightstalking With Artificials

[funbun]

Do any of you who night stalk ever use jigs, streamer flies or other artificials? Honestly, how do they compare to live minnows?

[STUMP HUNTER]

Some say they work but I have never got a bite on a jig at night. Even tried to tip the jig with a minnow and still no bites.

[AtticaFish]

I fish from the bank with no lights, and started learning from a couple guys I went out with who use only artifical. 1 guy uses twist tail grubs (silver/black) nearly 100% of the time and he out fished me when I used minnies. I later was using tied jigs with rabbit hair tails (silver/gray & chart/white) and was catching fish in good numbers using them with a float and a slow stop & go retrieve. Larger profile jigs seemed to get more bites. Again, I bank fish with no light so I pretty much would just keep moving down the shore, catch a few and move on. Good Luck!

[AtticaFish]

Was surprised this thread slipped away with very few posts... Does EVERYONE just use minnows after dark?

[catch fillet]

Seems to be that way--never tried jigs will try next nite out.

[funbun]

Yeah, my favorite fly is a Cat's Whisker. I caught my first and biggest white crappie on one of these tied in a chocolate brown color of all things because it matched the minnows in the lake.

I just wondered how streamers, e.g., Cat's Whisker, Mickey Finn or a Clouser Minnow, would do while rigged with a Coleman rig, with maybe the streamer tied up top as an attractor and a live minnow down bottom while night stalking? I guess the only way is to test it out!

[slipbobber]

That's a great lookin' pattern I can see all kinds of possibilities for that one. Another thought is to use a jig and tie on a weightless Cat Whisker above that on a shorter dropper line. The jig doing the normal jig thing and the whisker floating around above it, just a thought. Thanks.

[magnum500]

I do not fish at night very often but when I do I use jigs. Day or night jigs are all that I use. I have not used minnows for bait in years.

[skiptomylu]

I do use jigs at night along with minnows. I use a 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig as my weight and bait. Meaning I have that jig at the bottom and up about 18" I tie on a hook for the minnow. Most of the time I catch more and smaller fish on the minnows and the bigger fish on the jig and that I would say is a lot more than not. I like what I call my Green Hornet & also the Black Widow jigs.

I do the same thing during the day int he summer and just to show how it can be I took my wife one afternoon year before last for a late evening trip. We caught 28 total and 20 were caught on the minnows and 8 on the jigs. We had only 8 keepers that evening and all came on the jigs.

I do believe that the minnows sometime will help kind of stir up the action and then the jigs take the biggest prize. I never use minnows in the spring or fall and don't like them in the summer, but find the action in the summer is better if minnows are part of the deal.

Oh and didn't get to go night fishing last year and almost didn't fish at all the entire year. Was just too busy and too many things to do.

Skip

[SLABurns]

Catch almost all crappie on 2 minnow crappie rigs. Have only caught a few on jigs or jigs with minnows. Occasionally catch some on waxworms while jigging for bluegills.